- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia (D.C. Circuit), along with twelve other U.S. courts of appeals, form the middle tier of courts in the federal judiciary between the district courts and the Supreme Court. Because of its location in the nation's capital, which is home to a great number of federal agencies charged with the administration of federal policy, the D.C. Circuit has evolved into a court where cases on administrative law predominate. As a result, not only has the D.C. Circuit grown in expertise in the area of administrative law, but it also shapes policy regarding administrative law through its decisions. In this book, political scientist Christopher Banks explains that this unique role evolved largely as a result of the politics of the nation's capital. He shows how, in the 1960s, the liberal D.C. Circuit led the way in making law protecting criminal defendants. This activism caused Congress, in 1970, to remove the court's power to hear "local" criminal appeals. This decision, along with new regulation and several judicial appointments by Republican Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, altered the court's docket and made the D.C. Circuit more conservative. As a result, the court's judicial role changed and led to the D.C. Circuit's preeminence in administrative law. Banks clearly shows the important implications of the court's political transformation.